Traffic Eased

At Turnpike

Widening Site

Turnpike drivers will get a reprieve from rush-hour traffic jams that had been expected on Thursday as part of a new widening project at the Cypress Creek toll plaza.

Workers have begun a 15-month project that will widen the Florida's Turnpike toll plaza north of Commmercial Boulevard from 14 to 18 lanes.

Starting Thursday, the state and contractor R.C. Talwar had been scheduled to begin closing two lanes, with one lane remaining closed 24 hours a day. That was expected to create long lines at the toll plaza during rush hours and delays of 15 minutes or more.

Hoping to avoid that, the contractor has decided to close two lanes, one in each direction, between 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. weekdays, outside peak traffic times, said Kim Poulton, spokeswoman at Florida's Turnpike.

The lane closings will begin on Thursday and continue for three or four weeks.

More lane closings will follow, including some on Saturdays, but those dates have not yet been scheduled, Poulton said.

"We're trying to work with the contractor to keep from closing a lane 24 hours a day, if possible. We were really concerned about the delays in peak-hour traffic."

Drivers are encouraged to carry quarters and use exact change to speed up their trip. Receipts can now be obtained in the exact change lanes by pushing a button on the coin basket. The toll is 75 cents each way.